Untitled (Trafalgar Square Plinth)

Location

Country: UK
City: London
Place: Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport, 100 Parliament Street

Rachel Whiteread's "Untitled (Plinth)" is a small-scale model, or maquette, for her sculpture "Inverted Plinth". This was displayed in London's Trafalgar Square in 2000 as part of a series of temporary installations on the Square's "empty plinth". The sculpture consists of a resin cast of the Trafalgar Square plinth placed upside down on the plinth itself. Such exploration of space is typical of Whiteread's work, transforming an unremarkable form into an object of beauty and contemplation. Whiteread is known for her sculptures of "negative space". She was the first woman to win the prestigious Turner Prize in 1993 and she went on to represent Britain at the Venice Biennale in 1997.

Rachel Whiteread was born in London and studied at Brighton Polytechnic and the Slade School of Art. One of the most established artists of her generation (labelled by the media ‘YBAs’, or Young British Artists), she is known for her sculptures of negative spaces of domestic objects. She was the first woman to win the Turner Prize in 1993 and in 1997 represented Britain at the Venice Biennale. She has produced several commissions, including 'Monument' (2001) for Trafalgar Square’s Fourth Plinth in London and 'Embankment' (2005–06) at Tate Modern. Her work is represented in international public collections from London to Sydney. Whiteread was made a Commander of the British Empire (CBE) in 2006 and Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in 2019.

Places

England, London, Trafalgar Square

Subjects

topography, conceptual art, public square, plinth (represented)

Materials & Techniques

polyurethane resin, acrylic sealant, sculpture (as object name), Jesmonite

Artist

Rachel Whiteread (1963 - )

Title

Untitled (Trafalgar Square Plinth)

Edition

2/12

Date

1999

Medium

Plaster and resin sculpture; upper section: polyurethane resin; lower section: Jesmonite with acrylic sealant

Dimensions

height: 90.20 cm, width: 51.50 cm, depth: 25.00 cm

Acquisition

Purchased from Anthony d'Offay Gallery, November 1999

Inscription

inside base: R W 2/12 1999

GAC number

17410